In a conventional manufacturing line of an absorbent article such as a disposable diaper, the operation is performed in which a first sheet-like workpiece 10 associated with an absorbent article is received from the previous process, the longitudinal direction thereof is changed by 90° from the original state, and the first sheet-like workpiece 10 is discharged to the following process, etc. This operation is performed by a 90-degree turning drum apparatus 230 as shown in a side view of FIG. 10A.
The main body of the 90-degree turning drum apparatus 230 is a rotating drum 231 which is driven and rotates about a horizontal axis C231 along the width direction of the manufacturing line (a direction perpendicular to the transporting direction; hereinafter referred to as the CD direction). On the outer periphery of the rotating drum 231, holding pads 233, 233, . . . which suck and hold the first sheet-like workpieces 10 are disposed at a plurality of positions in the rotating direction Dc. Each holding pad 233 is configured to spin about its own spin axis C233 along the rotation-radius direction Dr of the rotating drum 231. Further, each holding pad 233 has a holding surface 233a which sucks and holds the first sheet-like workpiece 10, the holding surface 233a facing radially outward in the rotation-radius direction Dr.
At a predetermined position Qin of the rotating drum 231 in the rotating direction Dc, the receiving position Qin is set at which the first sheet-like workpiece 10 is received from the previous process. At a predetermined position Qout on the downstream side of the position Qin, the discharge position Qout is set at which the received first sheet-like workpiece 10 is discharged to the following process. For example, at the receiving position Qin, a transporting roll 250 that is driven and rotates is arranged facing the outer circumferential surface of the rotating drum 231; the transporting roll 250 transports a single sheet of the first sheet-like workpiece 10 to the receiving position Qin with the longitudinal direction of the first sheet-like workpiece 10 pointing in the transporting direction. On the other hand, at the discharge position Qout, a suction roll 260 that is driven and rotates is arranged facing the outer circumferential surface of the rotating drum 231; the suction roll 260 can receive the first sheet-like workpiece 10 by suction from the outer circumferential surface 260a of the suction roll 260.
The 90-degree turning drum apparatus 230 having the abovementioned configuration works as follows: when the holding pad 233 passes the receiving position Qin, a single sheet of the first sheet-like workpiece 10 is received from the transporting roll 250 at the position Qin by sucking onto the holding surface 233a; thereafter, while the holding pad 233 is moving to the discharge position Qout, the longitudinal direction of the first sheet-like workpiece 10 changes to the CD direction by the 90-degree rotation of the holding pad 233 about the spin axis C233; when the holding pad 233 passes the discharge position Qout, the first sheet-like workpiece 10 whose longitudinal direction points in the CD direction is discharged to the suction roll 260 (see [PTL 1]).